Apeil 3, 1896.] 



SCIENCE. 



535 



indicated the stratigraphic position and vertical 

 extent of the paleontologic divisions of the 

 Pottsville series. 



Although the plant collections are often 

 fragmentary or represent only one or more 

 levels in some of the sections, the individual 

 collections are generally clearly referable to 

 one of the floral divisions, suggested in the 

 author's preliminary paper on the New River 

 section at the Baltimore meeting of the Geo- 

 logical Society of America, viz: Pocahontas, 

 Horsepen and Sewanee, in ascending order, 

 while the approximate level in that division is 

 also frequently indicated with considerable relia- 

 bility, as is shown by stratigraphic verification. 

 The limits of these floral divisions, now fairly 

 well determined in the New River section, have 

 been traced through the Flat Top-Tug River 

 section, where the total thickness is seen to ex- 

 pand far beyond the 1,700 feet of the New River 

 section, while material from two localities in 

 the Big Stone Gap, Va. , region shows the pres- 

 ence of a flora belonging to the Sewanee divi- 

 sion, at a probable height of 2,300 feet above 

 the base of the series, denoting, perhaps, the 

 maximum thickness of the series near this point 

 in the central Appalachian trough. 



Special importance attaches to the author's 

 conclusions that the inclusion of the lower part 

 of the ' Walden sandstone ' of Hayes, repre- 

 sented by the ' Second Series ' of Saiford, in the 

 upper or Sewanee division of the Pottsville 

 series is fully demonstrated by the fossils of the 

 West Virginia and the type (Pottsville) sections, 

 while the underlying terranes, including the 

 ' Millstone Grit ' and upper part, at least, of 

 the ' Sub-conglomerate ' of Safford or the 

 ' Lookout Sandstone ' of Hayes are referable to 

 the Horsepen division. Such scanty fossil ma- 

 terial from Alabama as is available indicates 

 that in the Warrior coalfield the Warrior and 

 Black Creek seams belong in the Horsepen 

 division, while the Newcastle and Pratt seams 

 appear to fall within, certainly not above, the 

 Sewanee division, though the Pratt seam is 

 said to be about 1800 feet above the base of the 

 series. Such a correlation necessitates placing 

 the boundary of the Lower Productive Coal 

 Measures many hundreds of feet hi^gher in Ten- 

 nessee and Alabama than has yet been done by 



the geologists in those States. It also follows 

 that the Lykens Valley coals in Pennsylvania, 

 the New River and Pocahontas coals of West 

 Virginia, as well as the valuable coking coals of 

 Tennessee and Alabama, all seem to fall within 

 the limits of the Pottsville series. 



Attention was also called to the absence of 

 the Pocahontas and even the Horsepen division 

 floras in some of the thin sections of the series 

 in this basin, apparently disproving the gen- 

 erally accepted view that the difference between 

 the thick and the thin sections is wholly a 

 question of expansion. 



Mr. M. R. Campbell described briefly the re- 

 sult of his recent stratigraphic work in the 

 coalfield of Virginia and West Virginia. From 

 New River to Big Stone Gap his correlations, 

 based entirely upon stratigraphic work, agree 

 essentially with Mr. White's correlations, show- 

 ing that the two methods are harmonious and 

 lead to the same results. 



W. F. MORSELL. 



ACADEMY OF NATURAL SCIENCES OF PHILA- 

 DELPHIA, MARCH 13, 1896. 



Anthropological Section ; Charles Morris, 

 Recorder. Prof. T. Edge Kavanagh, of Ursinus 

 College, spoke upon the subject of ' Right- 

 Handedness.' It had been claimed that early 

 man was ambidextrous, drawing of faces facing 

 both ways being adduced in evidence of the 

 fact; but on careful investigation this position 

 had not been sustained. In primitive languages 

 words associated or compounded with the word 

 meaning left hand are symbolic of degenera- 

 tion. Other data were given to sustain the 

 view that primitive man was right-handed. 



Bilateral asymmetry of the human body was 

 not confined to the hand, but is the rule for the 

 entire organism. The right eye was a little 

 larger than the left, the right leg a little longer, 

 the right tibia more calcareous, the right teeth 

 stronger, hair and beard stronger on the right 

 side, while sick headache attacked the left side, 

 as did congenital and defective diseases. The 

 evidence to be adduced from the movements of 

 animals is too scant to be of much weight. The 

 researches of Gratiotet and Brown-Sequard on 

 the development of the human embryo were re- 

 ferred to. It had been suggested that the mat- 



